Crescent International
Pakistan has a new president but few people are celebrating. In the month of Ramadan, most people are concerned about their livelihood and the stifling heat to worry much about who will occupy the opulant presidential palace in Islamabad.
Islamabad,
July 30, 2013, 18:09 EDT
Pakistan has a new president. He is 73-year-old industrialist-turned-politician Mamnoon Hussain from Karachi. There were no fireworks when the result was announced but there was much cheer in the ranks of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League –Nawaz group (PML-N). Mamnoon Hussain secured a total of 432 votes against his only rival Justice (retired) Wajihuddin Ahmed of the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaaf (PTI) who got 77 votes. A total of 263 votes were needed to be elected.
The 12th president of Pakistan will be sworn in on September 9 when the incumbent, Asif Ali Zardari’s term ends. The president serves for a period of five years. According to law, a president must be non-partisan. Mamnoon Hussain resigned his membership of the PML-N. His predecessor continued to use the president’s office and house as a party office and despite warnings from the Supreme Court continued to indulge in party politics.
The president-elect has been an active member of the PML-N and has stuck with the party through good times and bad. It was this loyalty plus his industrial background that matches with Nawaz Sharif’s own industrial base that appealed to the party boss to give him the nod.
The Pakistani president is elected indirectly through the assemblies and the Senate. The National Assembly and Senate votes are all counted but the four provincial assembly votes are pro-rated. Since Baluchistan has a total of 58 provincial assembly seats, all provincial assembly votes are pared down to give them a weight of 58 each. Thus, while the Punjab Assembly has more than 350 seats, their total strength for the presidential vote is 58. Thus, a candidate must receive at least 6 votes in the Punjab Assembly to count as one vote. The Baluchistan vote carries the same weight, one vote for one vote.
A number of political parties boycotted the poll. These included the outgoing Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Muslim League - Quaid (PML-Q), Balochistan National Party - Awami (BNP-A) and the Awami Muslim League (AML).
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